Monday

I learned pretty quickly that being the Pokemon League Tournament Champion wasn't all fun and games. That became incredibly evident as I snatched my ringing cell phone off the nightstand and noted that there was no light coming in the windows of my room yet.

"What is it Jeff?"

"Are you awake?"

"… I am now." It was honestly the least angry reply I could come up with.

"Good. You don't want to miss your first day of meeting with the press."

I hid a sigh as Jeff continued to list off my itinerary for the day in his usual hurried speech. How the guy was this awake at a quarter to six in the morning was beyond me. Jeff had been assigned to me by the Pokemon League as my official assistant and PR guy to see me through the rigors of meeting with the press. He was well-organized and timely which was probably exactly what I needed.

"OK Jeff," I said when he finally paused to take a breath. "Let me get ready. I'll be downstairs in a half-hour. If they've got breakfast ready, I'd love some coffee."

I hung up before he could start rambling again with only a minor twinge of guilt.

With a huge stretch and yawn, I sat up in the king sized bed. Since winning the tournament and declaring my intent to face the Elite Four meant I would be sticking around for at least a few more days, the League had been courteous enough to upgrade my hotel room. I had just expected something a little nicer than the cramped single bed room that I'd had next door to my friends Dylan and David. Instead I found myself in a penthouse suite. Before I could cross my entire room in five or six steps. Now that same amount just took me to the bedroom door. The bathroom was connected to the bedroom and was bigger than my actual bedroom back home. I could've actually laid down in the shower it was so big.

In fact, I did it just because I could.

The main living area of the suite was big enough for a normal sized kitchen and island bar, living room with couch, chairs and entertainment center, and a balcony with a view of San Francisco to die for. Apparently Jeff had a key to my room because one of those fancy Keurig coffee machines had been switched on and the aroma of coffee filled the air. I snagged the disposable travel cup that had been filled and fitted it with the provided lid. I was going to need this coffee after staying up late celebrating my victory with all the family that had made the cross-country trek.

I nearly dropped my coffee when I opened the door to leave and found Jeff waiting for me. He had either been up for several hours already or had consumed an unhealthy amount of coffee. His black hair had been immaculately groomed and his thin beard finely trimmed. He immediately fell in step beside me and began rattling off the itinerary for today. I'd start out with a photo shoot and do some voice recordings to be used in promotional commercials. After that I'd essentially have a press conference where reporters would get to ask me questions for whatever stories they were going to write about me. Jeff promised me that it should be over by two in the afternoon, the time that it was agreed upon that I'd be free to resume my training. I may have won the League Tournament but four of the most powerful trainers in the world, five if you count the champion, awaited me three days away on Thursday.

The photo shoot was an interesting experience. It was more than just still photos with numerous videos being shot. Mostly it was me walking down halls or into the stadiums or sitting in the shadows and looking up into the light. Basically dramatic shots that served no other purpose than to make me seem intense and awesome. I was totally on board. The audio clips I provided seemed to go hand in hand with the video clips, making me seem much deeper emotionally than I was probably actually capable of being.

A few hours later, I was lead into a conference room by Jeff for the press conference. The sounds of Come With Me by Puff Daddy preceded me into the room which was the song that had been selected from my list of choices for my "entrance music" during the final rounds of the tournament. I had been so focused on my matches I hadn't even noticed it before. I took a moment to appreciate the lyrics of Puff Daddy or whatever he was calling himself now atop the powerful strings orchestra. Jeff seated me at a long table covered by a black tablecloth. To my surprise there was more than one chair there. There were three chairs behind the table, each accompanied by their own microphone. From the other side of the room entered the familiar bearded figure of Charles Goodshow, the League commissioner. Following him was the even more familiar face of Professor Oak. They made their way to my table and sat, Oak on my left and Goodshow to my right.

There was a formal introduction by Mr. Goodshow, a rather humorous event given that every single reporter there clearly knew who I was by now. Goodshow reminded the crowd that I was the third youngest Tournament Champion with only the current champion and one other being younger by a handful of days when they had won their tournaments. When the commissioner was finished he opened up the floor to questions.

The first few questions were quick and easy, more to get me talking than anything else. Mr. Goodshow and Professor Oak were both asked some questions too but more and more flowed in my direction.

A woman stood and asked, "The previous champion Tyson failed to defeat the Elite Four. The champion before him didn't even attempt to face the Elite Four. Why do you think that is?"

"I'm sorry ma'am but I can't really comment on either of their state of mind. I have yet to actually meet either of them." It seemed liked a good answer to me.

"Why do you think you deserve to face the Elite Four given the results of the two previous champions, both of whom were more experienced than you?"

I leaned forward and put smacked my hand down on my knee. "Seriously? That's your question?"

To her credit the reporter didn't back down. "There has been some concern that your path to Champion has been weaker than in years past."

"Weaker?" I wasn't sure who should be more insulted: me or David and Dylan. "You think because I faced people that I knew that I had an easier path? People think that because I faced off against trainers who I had trained side by side with the entire previous year and know my own style probably better than myself? Those were probably the two most difficult battles I've ever had on multiple levels.

"And that's to say nothing of Zakhar Valchenkov. In case you've forgotten, The Russian is who you in the media had pegged as probably the favorite to win it all when there were eight of us left. Yeah, I watched the TV. So now that Zakhar didn't win, it's no longer impressive that I defeated him?

"I defeated every trainer in my path. There is no one that can say that I didn't earn my shot at the Elite Four. Maybe I'll fail, maybe I won't. I've got nothing to lose. But no one can say I didn't earn this opportunity."

A faint smile crossed the lips of the reporter and I realized that was exactly what she had wanted me to say. It dawned on me that she had been setting me up but not in a bad way. She had gotten me to say exactly what I needed to say in order to defend myself against the charge of not being worthy. Maybe I didn't have to view the press as enemies after all.

After my outburst in defending myself, it seemed to be going along rather well as far as I could tell until one reporter stood to ask his question. There was something about the look in his eyes.

He listed off some dates in September and then some more in February. "Do those sound familiar?"

I was ready to say no but something did seem somehow familiar. After a quick pause, I came back with, "Sorry, but no. I kind of lost track of the actual date while I was out traveling. Should I know them?"

"During each of these times, you and your friends were completely off the grid. There was no communication from any of you via the internet or phone. Also during those two time periods were two incidents involving Team Rocket. After each, you and your friends suddenly reemerged with pokemon extremely stronger than previously noted."

I leaned back and then back forward again. I knew what this guy was getting at but I wasn't going to make it easy. "Is there a question in there?"

He smiled slightly. "Every time there's a major incident involving Team Rocket, you vanish. When it's over, you reappear. What is your relation to Team Rocket?"

I hadn't even been champion for a day and somehow I was involved in a scandal.

"Well… it's complicated."

"Perhaps you'd like to clarify it?"

Before I could answer, a hand clamped over my microphone. I followed the white sleeved arm back to its source. Professor Oak wasn't looking at me but staring off into space. There was an awkward silence that spanned several seconds. Oak finally removed his hand from my mike. All the reporters had their recording devices and notepads ready now.

"Tim's involvement with Team Rocket is indeed complicated but not in the way that you may think," Oak said slowly. "He and his friends are not affiliated with Team Rocket in any way, shape, or form. Tim was involved in each of those incidents although not on the side of the Rockets. Neither time was he involved by his choice, instead being forced by the circumstances he found himself in."

Professor Oak's words carried far more weight than mine would have. As an established presence in the pokemon world, no one would debate his credibility. My word as a relative newcomer would've been far less reliable.

"Perhaps you could elaborate for us, Professor," the reporter pressed.

There was another hesitation from Oak. "The reason that the facts behind these incidents have not been divulged is that the FBI requested we not discuss it with the public until all facts had been discovered, especially for the first incident. We were asked to not discuss that event due to Team Rocket still being at large. After their leaders were defeated and taken into custody after the second event, not until the authorities were certain all members had been rounded were we permitted to discuss what had occurred. Only recently have we received the OK from the authorities to do just that."

"We accidentally wandered into Pallet Town," I blurted out. "Dylan and I battled the Rockets while our other friend went for help. Then Team Rocket kidnapped us."

Oak shot me a look.

"What?" I protested as the press erupted with questions. "That's what happened!"

The noise of shouted questions was overwhelming and there was no way to pick out individual inquiries. I held my palms out and motioned for everyone to chill. To their credit, the journalists settled themselves surprisingly fast. I leaned over and asked Mr. Goodshow to choose the order the journalists would get to ask their questions.

"How exactly did you end up in Pallet Town?" the first one asked. "And how did you manage to get out?"

I quickly recanted the story of how we had been lead to believe there was a shortcut when traveling down the Atlantic coastline by what I now had no doubt were Team Rocket plants. I was purposely vague about the town itself, only detailing how the townspeople managed to keep us hidden until we were challenged to battle for our freedom by the Rockets. Dylan and my battle was then explained and how David hid to be ready to support us and Vanessa, David's ex-girlfriend and our ex-traveling mate, had managed to escape and come back with the authorities.

"So you believe this is what lead Team Rocket to kidnap you and your friends?" asked a reporter.

"That's what they told us," I said with a shrug and then before I could stop myself, I added, "We had stolen something from their base and they needed it back."

The reporter looked up from his notepad. "Stole what exactly?"

I shot Professor Oak a pleading look. We had taken a bag of what looked to be miniature pokemon evolutionary stones only with one for every type despite there having never been such a thing known before. It hadn't been until later on that we had even realized that we had still possessed the stones instead of giving them to the authorities. Eventually we had learned after being kidnapped that they were actually not stones but elemental plates and the key to unlocking the Pokemon Sanctuary and ushering in the next generation of pokemon. I had been lead to believe we still weren't allowed to talk about the arrival of the Fifth Generation with anyone that hadn't been there.

Oak grimaced. "What was taken was a small bag of elemental stones. These stones were actually the dormant form of the elemental plates, theorized to be those of the Alpha Pokemon Arceus. Team Rocket had deduced that the plates were necessary to open the gate to the Pokemon Sanctuary."

The reporter started to ask another question and then froze with his mouth open as he digested what had just been said. "You mean to say that the three unidentified trainers that held off Team Rocket at the Pokemon Sanctuary…?"

"Yes." Oak gave a firm nod. "Those three trainers were none other than Tim and his friends David and Dylan. Their actions undoubtedly saved hundreds of pokemon from enslavement at the hands of Team Rocket by defending the Gate."

Suddenly the press conference took off on a whole new tangent. Now the press wanted to know more about what had happened at the Gate instead of my thoughts on the tournament. I could only imagine how many of them were already scrapping the stories they had planned in light of this new information. I did my best to answer their questions but left out some details that no one really needed to know. Also, admitting that pokemon from another world had been contacting me and my friends in our dreams made us seem just a little crazy. Since there was little to no evidence that there had not been one, but three trios of pokemon wielding legendary power, I didn't see it necessary to let everyone in on that secret.

Eventually Mr. Goodshow got the conversations steered back towards my impending duals with the Elite Four but by then the press conference was almost over.

True to his word, Jeff got me out of there just shortly after two in the afternoon. The press undoubtedly wanted to keep talking but it would have to wait for another day. Jeff set me loose out of the streets with assurances that if I called him, he could get me anything that I might need. He also made sure that I was aware that we would be starting at the same time tomorrow. I waved him off as I fired off a few texts and promised him I would be alright but that I would call the second I wasn't.

Finally alone, I set off at a leisurely stroll down the street. I could see the massive stadium in the distance and headed that way. The San Francisco streets were crowded with people even though it was the middle of the day on a Monday. People spilled out of shops and restaurants onto the sidewalks and filled the air with chatter. Even in a place filled with this amount of humanity, I went unnoticed.

"Tim! Hey, Tim!"

I looked around but didn't see anyone I recognized. I didn't even recognize the voice either although it did seem vaguely familiar somehow. It wasn't until I had completely a full three-sixty and was starting on the second did I see the man waving at me from a table in a sidewalk café. He was probably in his mid-thirties with a shock of hair that was a weird silvery blue. The girl next to him was probably only a few years older than me with fiery red hair pulled back in a ponytail. It wasn't until my eyes fell on the third member of their group, an aging man of Asian descent, did I realize who they were.

"Steven?" I asked with a laugh as I approached and shook his hand. "It's been a while!"

"Literally about a year," he said as I shook hands with the others. He waved me the unoccupied metal chair.

"Good to see you again too, Isamu," I said to the Asian man. "And of course, you as well Lacey. What brings a trio of Gym Leaders here?"

The waitress arrived and they forced me to order lunch before they would tell me anything. A few moments later as I sipped on some lemonade, I motioned for them to spill the beans.

"Every year a couple of us get to close up our gyms for a few weeks and come to see the Tournament if we want," Steven explained. "Last year we were all open. So the three of us got to come, along with Gary the ground-type leader."

"So the three furthest away, eh?" I asked. "How long was that flight from New Jersey?"

"Too long," Isamu said with a smile. "But not as long as it took Lacey to get out of the Everglades."

"It didn't take me that long," Lacey protested. "It's only like a day or so for most trainers! Tim! How long did it take you?"

I thought back to forging through the swamps just so we could face the grass-type gym leader. "Honestly, I don't even know anymore. Maybe a day? I kind of lost track of the days for a while there."

"That sounds familiar," Steven laughed. "That's why I placed my Gym in an easily accessible place. Isamu, your Gym has always been where it's at, right?"

Isamu nodded. "I have practiced the art of the poison pokemon in only one location since I was given the title of Gym Leader."

Our lunches arrived and I suddenly realized how hungry I was. Luckily Lacey was a quick and messy eater so I didn't worry much about how I looked as I shoveled a club sandwich into my face.

"So do you guys just hang out the whole time or do you have other duties?" I asked around a mouthful.

"Not official duties," Steven said, "more unofficial. Every year the Gym Leaders get together to battle their pokemon. We keep track of wins and losses and the winner of each group always gets first opportunity to come back again next year."

My mouth stopped working as I stared at Steven. I thought back to facing off against him back in Detroit almost a year ago. With Mudkip and Corphish I had defeated his rock-type pokemon. Isamu had defeated me in our first bout but I had bested him thoroughly in the rematch. Lacey had taken me on a wild ride but I'd ridden Charmeleon out to victory. I could only imagine how easy those battles would be now.

"No offense Steven, but aren't you kind of at a disadvantage here?" I asked. "I mean, when we battled your pokemon were kind of weak."

To my surprise, all three of them burst out laughing.

"Oh, every time! Every time!" Laney giggled. "Sometimes they're so naive it's cute!"

Steven slapped me on the shoulder. "Everyone asks that. Our pokemon always depend on our challenger. Didn't you ever notice that as your pokemon got stronger so did a Gym Leader's? The more badges you have, the stronger pokemon we use."

It took me a moment to digest that. "So what I faced back then wasn't your best?"

"Not even close." I must have looked skeptical because he then said, "I'll tell you what. You still get to use the fields to train, right? After lunch we'll go there and you and I can battle."

"Seriously?" I arched an eyebrow.

"I'll even give you a prize if you can beat me."

Well, now that was tempting. "Are you going to use your best pokemon?"

Isamu let out a small chuckle and Steven answered, "No, that wouldn't be fair. I've been at this so much longer than you, my first and best pokemon has world's more experience than you."

"I suppose that's fair."

After another hour of catching up on each other's lives, I made an attempt to pay the bill but was quickly overruled. The point was made that as Gym Leaders, each of them drew a paycheck whereas I did not. Since my Nike endorsement deal hadn't been finalized yet I didn't put up too much of an argument.

People moved out of our way as we headed for the stadium. I don't know what it was that made them do so. Perhaps it was our eclectic group or maybe Steven or Isamu radiated some kind of authority I didn't pick up on. Well some of the males were clearly just to get a better look at Lacey. Other than that, I had no idea.

Steven lead us around the side of the stadium to a pod of elemental fields. I wasn't sure how he knew I had access to those exact ones but he did. He was just full of surprises. I had one of my own and it was leaning against the door that had been programmed to open when I swiped my ID card.

"Dylan!" Lacey exclaimed. "I didn't think we'd see you too!"

Dylan put down the iPad he was playing on and adjusted his glasses as he looked us over. We'd known each other since we were in elementary school and had always borne a slight resemblance with our tall stature and brown hair and eyes, only to be enhanced once I started wearing glasses too. The biggest difference being that he carried more weight than I did, making him slightly pudgy to my skinny.

"Was starting to wonder when you'd show up," he said, shaking everyone's hands. "Didn't expect you to be bringing company too, let alone Gym Leaders."

I swiped us all in and we headed for the grass field that I was allowed to use for training. I filled in Dylan on what was going on and he seemed surprised. When we reached the field, Steven and the Gym Leaders took one end and I took the other with Dylan.

"Nice iPad," I said as we walked to the trainers box. "You get an endorsement deal with Apple?"

He snorted. "No. Haven't you checked your bank account since yesterday?"

"Didn't even cross my mind," I said with a shake of my head.

"We got paid." He put a lot of emphasis on the last word. "Every time we won a battle we got a payout, just like in a normal battle. Only these payouts got bigger and bigger the more we won. I even got a payout for the championship match."

"Seriously?" I hadn't even considered that.

"Yeah. I got five figures for losing so I can't even imagine what you got." Dylan paused for a moment and then nodded across the field at Steven. "Do you even know who that is?"

I rolled my eyes. "Of course I do. Steven the rock-type Gym Leader. If you'll recall we met him at the same time."

"Not what I meant. I mean do you actually know who he is?"

I had no idea what he was talking about and said so.

"I thought so," Dylan said with a nod. "I googled him not long after we battled him in Detroit one night when I couldn't sleep. His last name is Stone. That ring a bell?"

It did and that worried me slightly. "It sounds familiar but I can't quite place it. Who is he?"

"He was hailed as the first ever steel-type specialist. Back when he won the League Tournament."

"What?"

"Steven Stone is a former League Champion. He beat the Elite Four but was defeated by the Champion."

"Oh." That was all I could muster. "Oh, that's not good."

Dylan patted me on the shoulder. "Just thought you should know."

"Ready?" Steven called from across the field. "Two on two?"

"Sounds good," I replied, managing to keep my voice from cracking. "I'll start us off. Sceptile, go!"

"A good choice! Tyranitar, go!"

Of all the pokemon I had thought I might see, this wasn't one of them. A blast of wind and sand buffeted both me and my pokemon as the huge rock- and dark-type pokemon stepped forward. Covered with spikes and green armor for a hide, the tyranitar brought a sandstorm into battle with it, a heavy advantage.

"Good luck buddy!" Dylan said with surprising cheer.

"No time to waste!" I called to my pokemon. "Leaf blade!"

The one thing that was undoubtedly on my side was speed. Sceptile had shot across the field before Tyranitar could even react. The leaves on both of Sceptile's arms folded down as they took on a neon green glow. Sceptile leapt into the air, spun around and slashed both blades across the chest of Tyranitar.

"Iron tail!"

Sceptile bounced back into the air, now a silvery glow washing over its big tail. Somersaulting over it slammed down the tail onto the big rock-type pokemon. With a flex of its tail, Sceptile launched itself back towards me.

"Dragon pulse!"

Still flying backwards, Sceptile held both claws out in front of its body as the purple orb formed. The claws flew apart and the dragon-type attack shot out. It detonated against Tyranitar, shrouding the pokemon in fire and smoke. Sceptile landed on all fours right at the midfield point.

"Leaf storm!"

The yellow orbs on Sceptile's back lit up and a swirling cloud of glowing green leaves flowed out of them. The storm hesitated for a moment before honing in on its target. The large cloud of leaves narrowed into a tight stream as they pounded into where Tyranitar was finally becoming visible in the fading explosion. The big rock- and dark-type had its head pulled down and hidden behind its arms as the super-effective leaves raked across its body.

Silence reigned over the field until Dylan broke it. "Is… is it over?"

Tyranitar threw out its arms and let out a roar. Another wave of the sandstorm lashed out and slammed into Sceptile to force it back a few steps.

"Holy shit," I breathed. Three of those four attacks had been super-effective. They should've toppled just about anything.

Steven let out a chuckle. "Our turn. Stone edge!"

"Move it, Sceptile!"

Tiny specks of light began to navigate in an orbit around Tyranitar before forming into long shards of rock. Sceptile was already racing away as the shards of rock launched out. The stones cut through the air but Sceptile was faster. The stones left a trail across the field as they buried themselves into the ground in my pokemon's wake.

"Dragon pulse!"

Sceptile jumped into the air and spun around to hurl the purple orb.

"Dark pulse!"

A beam of black rings erupted out of Tyranitar's mouth. It slammed into the dragon pulse and detonated it before continuing right on through. Not expecting that, Sceptile took the dark-type attack right in the chest and vanished in the explosion. I directed Sceptile out of the fire and smoke with a leaf blade but we were surprised by Tyranitar's counter with a dragon claw. The two pokemon were knocked back by the combined energies of their attacks and another wave of the sandstorm. Tyranitar followed that up with an ice beam. Sceptile managed to avoid the brunt of it but there was frost covering the pokemon's tail.

It was becoming abundantly clear that my pokemon was not going to be able to go toe to toe with Steven's pokemon. It just had too much physical strength. Speed was going to be my greatest asset but employing it properly was going to be tricky. Steven was going to great lengths to keep decent space between the two pokemon. To me, that meant that he was worried about being able to block or dodge my attacks. Perhaps Tyranitar hadn't come out of my initial barrage as unscathed as I thought.

I pointed at Tyranitar. "Leaf storm!"

"Ice beam!"

To my surprise, the light blue bolts that formed the ice beam cut right through the oncoming leaf storm. The first few leaves had just struck Tyranitar when the ice beam flung Sceptile away. Its claws dug into the dirt as Sceptile shakily pushed itself back up. Clearly Steven's pokemon still had enough strength left that a frontal assault wasn't going to cut it.

"Nowhere to hide now!" Steven declared. "Finish it with ice beam!"

I thought quickly. "Dragon pulse right at your feet! Use a couple of them!"

Sceptile slammed a trio of purple orbs into the ground. As I'd hoped, a billowing cloud of smoke roiled up from the explosions and encapsulated my pokemon. The ice beam sliced through the smoke and kept right on going.

"Did you just ninja vanish?" Dylan asked with disbelief. "With dragon pulse?"

Two more explosions sounded and the cloud of smoke grew thicker. It had begun to spread over the field now. Tyranitar was looking about frantically now as it tried to determine where the next attack might come from. Although I would deny it later, I also didn't know where the next attack was going to come from.

"Leaf blade!"

There was a flash of green. Suddenly Sceptile was pass Tyranitar. Now my pokemon was down on one knee, holding the arm with the glowing leaf blade up across its body at an angle. There was a choking noise and suddenly Tyranitar collapsed.

"Tyranitar is unable to battle!" Isamu declared. "Sceptile is the winner!"

"Not too shabby!" Steven complemented.

I reflected for a quick moment on how different a friendly battle was from a competitive one. Had anything actually been on the line, I doubted that Steven would've been complimenting me let alone smiling as he recalled his pokemon. It was a nice change.

"That's only one though," he said. "And it only gets tougher!"

Huge and armored, colored with grey and silver with the exception of the sky blue eyes, I recognized Steven's aggron instantly. I'd actually faced two of them during the League Tournament so I was well aware of their dual rock/steel typing. It was a formidable foe to be sure.

Unless you're expecting one.

I looked back at Dylan. "And you say I never listen. Sceptile, return! Go, Swampert!"

Although not nearly as big nor as heavy as an aggron, Swampert was about as close to a physical tank as I got. Its water- and ground-types gave me incredible type coverage and the pokemon boasted considerable defensive prowess. The question now really just came down to experience.

Actually, it came down to type.

I had no doubt that Aggron was the more experienced pokemon but Swampert wielded too many attacks that caused doubly super-effective damage. Both earthquake and hammer arm served up disaster on an epic scale. Swampert didn't escape unscathed. When Aggron finally toppled I had little doubt that my pokemon had given it everything it had. If the typing hadn't been so heavily tilted in my favor there would've been no chance for me to win.

"I see what you mean," I said to Steven as we met up in the middle of the field. "Those pokemon would've been unfair to use in a gym battle against practically anyone."

"I know, right?" Lacey answered instead. "I barely ever get to bring out my strongest pokemon. Oh, my poor Meganium! My first pokemon and I haven't battled with it in ages!"

Isamu set a calming hand on her shoulder. "That's why we're here. To let our oldest friends have some fun."

I eyed Steven warily. "Was that your oldest pokemon?"

"You wish." A broad grin spread across his face. "My original pokemon was a beldum. It evolved all the way to a metagross some time ago. No offense, but I'm not sure both of your pokemon combined could've beaten it."

That certainly sounded like a challenge.

Seemingly reading my mind Steven said, "But that will have to wait for another time. You have more important things to focus on right now. Your first battle is on Thursday, correct?"

"Yup."

"Be wary of the Ice Queen. Heck, be wary of them all. Each of their specialties has a number of species with various secondary types. Some of them might even negate what would normally be a super-effective type. Think carefully when selecting your team. One wrong guess could be the difference between victory and defeat."

That was certainly something to consider. I had been prepared for secondary types but Steven did have a good point about some types suddenly becoming ineffective. It would definitely be something I'd have to put some thought into.

Suddenly Steven perked up. "Oh! I almost forgot! I promised you a reward if you beat me!." He reached back to his belt and removed a poke ball. "This aggron that you just beat? It's part of a line of aggron that I've been breeding. I'm getting ready to breed this one after all the festivities here. So if you would like, once the aron hatch, for your reward you can have one."

"Are you serious?" I exclaimed. "That would be awesome!"

Steven confirmed that I kept my extra pokemon at Professor Oak's lab and promised to transfer the pokemon there once it had hatched. Once that was taken care of, he and the other two Gym Leaders departed leaving just me and Dylan on the field. There was nothing but silence as we looked over the torn up battlefield.

"So," Dylan said finally. "Is David coming?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. I sent him a text asking him to help me out. Don't think I've actually talked to him since our match."

"Yeah he was pretty mad about that." Dylan nudged a loose clump of grass and dirt with his shoe. "I can't say that I blame him though. It's not super easy for me to be here either. Just being here is basically having the fact that I lost rubbed in my face."

I looked at him. "You know that's not why I wanted you here. I seriously want your help."

"I know that." He gave a dismissive wave. "But that doesn't change the fact that every second here just reminds me of how close I got."

Silence reigned again.

"I wouldn't have been here without you," I said. "Hell, I wouldn't have even made it out of Michigan without you."

Dylan snorted. "You might not have made it off your street without me."

"Give me a little credit."

"Ok fine. You'd have gotten off your street. Maybe even out of the neighborhood."

I sighed. There wasn't much I could do about it, mostly because he was probably closer to right than wrong. "So are you going to help me then?"

"Only if you get me some of those fancy Nike shoes once your deal goes through with them."

"I'll see if I can get that written into my contract."